Headlight failure forces Aishwarya Pissay to retire from Desert Storm

Bikaner, March 20: A malfunctioning headlight ended National women’s racing and rally champion Aishwarya Pissay’s campaign in the Maruti Suzuki Desert Storm here last night as she was docked a penalty of 100 hours, forcing her to retire from the week-long cross-country rally.

Bengaluru-based 22-year old Aishwarya, representing TVS Racing team, was among 11 bikers who retired in Leg-1 which comprised two Special Stages totaling about 80 Kms.

“I was running well in the day’s first Stage and was in good rhythm. I even overtook several bikes and was feeling very confident until the problem with the headlight cropped up in the next Stage.

“I was doing a night Stage for the first time ever and it was a whole new experience for me. The headlight proved to be an issue and suddenly, it stopped working. I was caught in pitch darkness, but I followed the tail-lights of other bikes for a while. I then got stuck going up a sand dune and was left all alone.

“I managed to contact the officials who arrived after about an hour, picked me up and I got back to Bikaner safely. In view of the stoppage, I was handed a penalty of 100 hours and we decided against taking a re-start,” said Aishwarya.